Giant Hole Forms In Siberia, And Nobody Can Explain Why A giant hole has opened up in Siberia, and nobody quite knows why. The massive hole, which spans about 262 feet in diameter, was spotted recently on the Yamal Peninsula in Russia, commonly known as the end of the world, The Siberian Times reported. The depth of the hole is not yet known. New video footage shows the mysterious hole surrounded by vegetation in a seemingly remote area. The ground on the outskirts of the hole appears to have been displaced, perhaps by whatever caused the hole to form. Given the craters proximity to a natural gas field, one theory is that the hole formed following an explosion, caused by a mixture of gas, salt and water igniting underground. So far, local officials have ruled out a space rock as the culprit behind the hole. We can definitely say that it is not a meteorite, a spokesman for the Yamal branch of the countrys Emergencies Ministry told The Siberian Times, adding that there are no further details yet. Dr. Chris Fogwill, a polar scientist at the University of New South Wales in Australia, said the hole may be whats left of a pingo, a heap of Earth-covered ice that is found in the Arctic and subarctic. If the pingo was large enough, and melted, it potentially could have created a giant hole. Certainly from the images Ive seen it looks like a periglacial feature, perhaps a collapsed pingo, Fogwill told The Sydney Morning Herald. This is obviously a very extreme version of that, and if there’s been any interaction with the gas in the area, that is a question that could only be answered by going there. In fact, a team of scientists has been dispatched to study the Siberian hole and take samples from the surrounding region. They are reportedly due to arrive Wednesday. Until then, the mystery continues. The striking puncture in the earth is believed to be up to 80 metres wide but its depth is not estimated yet. A scientific team has been sent to investigate the hole and is due to arrive at the scene on Wednesday. The cause of its sudden appearance in Yamal - its name means the end of the world in the far north of Siberia - is not yet known, though one scientific claim is that global warming may be to blame. There is additionally speculation it could be caused by a space object - perhaps a meteorite - striking earth or that it is a sinkhole caused by collapsing rock beneath the hole caused by as yet unknown factors. The giant hole appeared close to a forest some 30 kilometres from Yamals biggest gas field Bovanenkovo. Experts are confident that a scientific explanation will be found for it and that it is not - as one web claim suggested - evidence of the arrival of a UFO craft to the planet. A report and footage highlighted by Zvezda TV says the dark colour of the crater indicates some temperature processes, without explaining more what they may mean. Others say that the darkening around the inner rim indicates its formation was accompanied by severe burning scorching the edges. Some observers believe water or dry soil is seen falling into the cavity. There is agreement that soil around the hole was thrown out of the crater, large enough for several Mi-8 helicopters to fly into it - not that they have. The expedition organised by the Yamal authorities includes two experts from the Centre for the Study of the Arctic and one from Cryosphere Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. They plan to take samples of soil, air and water from the scene. They will be accompanied by a specialist from the Emergencies Ministry. A spokesman for the ministrys Yamal branch ruled out a meteorite but said it was too early to say what cause the gigantic hole in the earth. We can definitely say that it is not a meteorite. No details yet, said a spokesman. Initial reports and images were suspected to be fakes, but the hole is a real phenomenon and it is believed to have been formed around two years ago. Engineer Konstantin Nikolaev from Yugra is one of those to have filmed it from a helicopter. Anna Kurchatova from Sub-Arctic Scientific Research Centre thinks the crater was formed by a water, salt and gas mixture igniting an underground explosion, the result of global warming. She postulates that gas accumulated in ice mixed with sand beneath the surface, and that this was mixed with salt - some 10,000 years ago this area was a sea. Global warming, causing an alarming melt in the permafrost, released gas causing an effect like the popping of a Champagne bottle cork, she suggests. Given the gas pipelines in this region such a happening is potentially dangerous. The Yamal Peninsula in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is a strategic oil and gas bearing region of Russia. It is Russias main production area for gas and the Bovanenkovo field is of central importance to gas supplies from Siberia to the world. The gas field was discovered in 1972 and developed by Gazprom starting production in 2012. The Yamal peninsula is bordered by the Kara Sea - Baydaratskaya Bay - to the west, and the Gulf of Ob on the east. It extends some 700 kilometres over mainly permafrost. The area is famous for its reindeer herds and migratory birds. The Nenets and Khanty reindeer herders hold about half a million domestic reindeer. The remains of ancient woolly mammoths have been found in this enchanting territory. siberiantimes/other/others/features/large-crater-appears-at-the-end-of-the-world/
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 05:48:06 +0000